anything or shouldn't do anything based on the tax consequences -- >> we talked about that on larry kudlow. taxes matter. >> taxes matter. >> in 1986 we saw the amount of money that the government collected from capital gains doubled right before the capital gains went up to 28%. and then the next year -- they front loaded. the wealthy can manage their income much more than average ordinary income. >> they can when tax laws change. once you get into a situation where tax laws are more stable and not -- >> it's smooths out. it smooths out. but the point is next year as joe just pointed out we'll see in 1986 those gains fell by more than half. the government collected half what they did the previous year, so we're going to see a really spiky income and revenue situation for the next two years. >> the question is what would happen, though, if you had a simpson/bowles-type plan. it plans to take dividends to 28% along with ordinary income. but 28% is higher than it would go up under most of the proposals. >> but this all begs the question of a great example this whole fiscal cliff the conversa